Environmentally friendly water intake and pretreatment system

ABSTRACT

A water intake and pretreatment system (10) comprising an inlet for delivering water from a natural source to a reservoir (12); said inlet to reservoir having a net screen (16) to prevent entry of organisms above a predetermined size and including a one-way gate (30) to allow organisms to exit the reservoir; said reservoir further comprising a granular filter media for water and algae filtration; and a drainage layer for removal of filtered water from the granular filter media to a drainage outlet. A local backwashing apparatus (40) is included for localized backwashing of the granular filter media.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of water treatment,especially to an environmentally friendly seawater intake andpretreatment system and process, particularly but not exclusively fordesalination plants.

BACKGROUND

Water treatment systems such as seawater desalination facilities andpower plants that require an intake of cooling water from fresh seawater include an intake unit for delivering water from its source (e.g.sea) to the system, and a pretreatment unit for removing floating anddissolved material from the delivered water, in order to prepare thewater for the main membrane process.

Two types of intake units are open intakes and infiltration intakes (orinfiltration galleries). Open intakes draw water via piping directlyfrom the water body. Open intakes typically employ screen meshes tofilter out large debris and prevent fish or other marine life from beingdrawn into the system, such as the desalination system. However,millions of fish and other small marine organisms, with a width of under2 cm, are sucked into the piping, leading to considerable damage, bothto the environment and to facilities. Damage is inflicted on both largeaquatic organisms such as fish or crabs that are trapped against theintake screens and drown or suffocate, and on small marine organismssuch as fish, fish eggs or larvae that are drawn into the intake systemand destroyed by the plant equipment.

Infiltration intakes, or galleries, are built in the seabed by theinstallation of horizontal drain systems. The drain system is placed inthe natural filtration media sand, or cracked stone or other waterpermeable natural media and the seawater is slowly filtered by it. Thismedia is naturally cleaned by waves and storms. Horizontal drain systemsdeliver water to the pumping station located on the seashore.Infiltration galleries, while protecting the marine environment, canonly be installed in areas with naturally occurring medias. Furthermore,a huge area of sea is required and the filtration velocity is typicallyvery slow. After a certain period of time, flow is diminished and a newarea has to be selected for intake.

Ranney wells are also used to provide lateral screens for water intake.A caisson is constructed into the sand below surface level and thescreened conduits extend horizontally from ports in the caisson toprovide an infiltration gallery with a single central withdrawal point.However, this is only suitable for providing intake water to plants ofsmall size.

Another example of an intake system is a filter packed slant well. Thesewells are drilled into the sea bed at an angle and filtered water ispumped from below the surface. However, this type of system is high costwith limited output.

Environmental Protection Agencies are requiring further improvements tointake units to minimize adverse environmental impacts, in particularreducing mortality to fish and other aquatic organisms. For example,Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act requires that National PollutantDischarge Elimination System (NPDES) permits for facilities with coolingwater intake structures ensure that the location, design, construction,and capacity of the structures reflect the best technology available tominimize harmful impacts on the environment. The withdrawal of coolingwater by facilities removes billions of aquatic organisms from waters ofthe United States each year, including fish, larvae and eggs,crustaceans, shellfish, sea turtles, marine mammals and other aquaticlife. Most impacts occur to early life stages of fish and shellfishthrough impingement (organisms pinned against cooling water intakestructures) and entrainment (organisms drawn into cooling water systemsand affected by heat, chemicals or physical stress). It would bedesirable to reduce mortality of larva that are introduced into theintake units in addition to larger aquatic organisms.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved seawaterintake unit that aims to reduce the mortality of aquatic life, inparticular larva.

If a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedseawater intake that aims to encourage aquatic life, in particularlarva.

BRIEF SUMMARY

One aspect of the present invention provides an environmentally friendlywater intake and pretreatment system comprising an inlet for deliveringwater from a natural source, preferably sea water, to a reservoir; saidinlet to reservoir having a net screen to prevent entry of organismsabove a predetermined size and including a one-way gate to alloworganisms to freely exit the reservoir; said reservoir furthercomprising a granular filter media for water and algae filtration; and adrainage layer below said filter media for removal of filtered waterfrom the granular filter media to a drainage outlet.

The system preferably includes a local backwashing apparatus forlocalized backwashing of the granular filter media.

The net screen preferably excludes organisms above 2 cm long or widefrom entering the reservoir. The one-way gate preferably allowsorganisms of any size to exit the reservoir or alternatively may beconfigured to only allow exit of organisms above a certain size to exitthe reservoir.

Preferably, the water in the reservoir is a maximum depth of 2 meters,more preferably 1 meter, above the granular filter media. The granularfilter media is preferably sand.

The shallow depth of the reservoir with a granular filter media bedencourages growth of algae at the surface of the filter media, promotinglarvae growth in the reservoir. The reservoir acts as a larvae nursery,being protected from predators by the presence of the filter screen.

The inlet to the reservoir is preferably a gravity-feed channel from thenatural water source. The natural water source is preferably sea waterand the reservoir is ideally provided with a wave protection structure.Alternatively, the system should be located in an area where there areno high waves and the sea is a closed sea.

The one-way gate may comprise a rotating gate or wheel. Preferably, thegate has a rotating door or panel provided with a curtain or sheet offlexible material.

The system preferably includes a local backwashing apparatus comprisingan enclosure having an open lower end positionable above a surface ofthe granular filter media supported above the drainage layer; asupporting structure movably supporting the enclosure, the supportingstructure configured to position the enclosure at specified spots on thesurface of the granular filter media, a pneumatic system in fluidcommunication with an upper part of the enclosure and configured todetermine an air pressure in an upper part, a pipe system connecting theupper part of the enclosure with the pneumatic system and with adischarge structure, and a control unit connected to the supportingstructure and pneumatic system and configured to conduct localbackwashing of consecutive partial volumes of the filter media bysinking the enclosure into the filter media until the enclosure issupported on the drainage layer by reducing the air pressure in theupper part of the enclosure through the pneumatic system once the openlower end of the enclosure is immersed in filter media, to enclose thepartial volume of filter media within the enclosure and generating localbackwashing of the partial volume of the filter media enclosed in theenclosure by generating suction through the pneumatic system thatinitiates a water flow from the upper part of the enclosure through thepipe system to the discharge structure, wherein the water flowintroduces into the lower end of the enclosed partial volume of filtermedia filtered water from the drainage layer which expands the enclosedfilter media and releases sludge therefrom to the water flow that flowsto the discharge structure, and raising the enclosure above the surfaceof the filter media to release the backwashed enclosed volume of filtermedia, by injecting air and increasing air pressure in the upper part ofthe enclosure through the pneumatic system to float the enclosure abovethe filter media.

The enclosure is preferably provided with a flexible skirt around theopen lower end thereof to prevent organisms above a predetermined sizeentering the enclosure. This further serves to preserve aquatic lifewithin the system.

The supporting structure of the enclosure may be at least one of: afixed bridge, a floating bridge, a rotating bridge and a crane.

A height of the enclosure is preferably larger than a height of thewater above the granular filter media in respect to the drainage layer.

A further aspect of the present invention provides a water intake andpretreatment process comprising the steps of delivering water from anatural source to a reservoir; preventing entry of organisms above apredetermined size into the reservoir but allowing organisms below apredetermined size to enter and exit the reservoir; filtering water insaid reservoir through a granular filter media for water and algaefiltration; and removing the filtered water from the granular filtermedia.

Preferably, the process further comprises local backwashing of partialvolumes of the granular filter media. A rinsing step may also beincluded if desired.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of embodiments of the invention and to showhow the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made,purely by way of example, to the accompanying drawings in which likenumerals designate corresponding elements or sections throughout.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional schematic diagram of a seawaterintake and pretreatment system according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the intake area of the seawater andpretreatment system of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along lines A-A of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 4 is side view along lines B-B of FIG. 2 ;

FIG. 5 illustrates schematically a seawater intake and pretreatmentsystem according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a local backwashingapparatus or spot cleaner for use in the intake and pretreatment systemof the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating the steps involved in a localbackwashing system utilized in the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressedthat the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes ofillustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the presentinvention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what isbelieved to be the most useful and readily understood description of theprinciples and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, noattempt is made to show structural details of the invention in moredetail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of theinvention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent tothose skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may beembodied in practice.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, itis to be understood that the invention is not limited in its applicationto the details of construction and the arrangement of the components setforth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. Theinvention is applicable to other embodiments or of being practiced orcarried out in various ways and is limited only by the appended claims.Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminologyemployed herein is for the purpose of description and should not beregarded as limiting.

The intake system of the present invention provides conditions thatserve to encourage larva growth (or around 1 mm in size) to finger size(around 5-10 cm) which is in contrast to prior art systems that aregenerally detrimental to larva and other aquatic life.

FIGS. 1 to 4 of the accompanying drawings illustrate a preferredembodiment of an environmentally friendly seawater intake systemaccording to the invention. The intake system 10 is provided at acoastal area close to sea water and includes a seawater intake area 12that receives seawater SW from the sea. A large net screen 16 isprovided at the entrance of the intake area that serves to prevent theentry of large fishes (in excess of around 2 cm) into the intake area12. The sea water flows by gravity through a granular media screen 18,such as via a sand filter supported on grating 19 and optionally aplastic filter such as GENPORE, for water and algae filtration and thenpasses to an outlet channel 20 comprising a drainage channel formedunder the sand filter, where it is pumped by a vertical wet pit pump 22for delivery to a process plant.

Additionally, the intake system 10 is provided with a rotating on-waygate 30 (see FIGS. 2 and 4 ) that allows seawater to flow out of thesystem. The gate also allows fish and other organisms to leave theintake area 12. A local backwashing apparatus or spot cleaner 40 is alsoprovided to locally backwash portions of the filter media 18 to furtherclean the water. This is provided with a moving skirt 44 (see FIG. 3 )that prevents entry of fish above a certain size (for example, greaterthan 1 cm) into the enclosure 50 of the apparatus.

In this manner, the intake and pretreatment unit of the presentinvention prevents larger fish from entering the area 12 and thus beingharmed by the system. Additionally, the shallow waters (ideally lessthan 1 metre) formed above the filter media 18 encourages algae growthproviding nutrition for larva growth. Larva (around 1 mm in size) do notpass through the filter media which generally filters particles of up toaround 20 microns in size. Thus, the intake area acts as a nurserypromoting larva growth and the vast majority of larva and small fishesare able to leave the intake area through the rotating gates 30 or otherappropriate fish check valve that will allow the exit of fish. The areais protected from entry of large fish that would be predators of thesmall fish and larva, again promoting larva and small fish growth.

A small amount of the water in the intake area is subjected to localbackwashing (see FIGS. 6 and 7 and further details below). The enclosure50 for backwashing is provided with a moving skirt (not shown) thatprevents entry of finger-sized fish (greater than 5 cm) and thus onlyvery small fishes and larva may be subject to local backwashing fortheir removal along with other debris.

FIG. 5 of the accompanying drawings illustrates an alternativeeco-friendly intake system according to the present invention. Identicalfeatures already discussed in relation to FIGS. 1 to 4 are given thesame reference numerals and only the differences will be discussed indetail. The sea water flows through a drainage channel 21 to theseawater intake area 12 (see arrow in FIG. 5 ). The flow is again drivenby gravity through level difference with a net screen and rotating gatebeing provided to allow larva and small fish only to enter and leave theintake area.

An Example of the local backwashing or spot cleaner apparatus 40 that isutilized in the present invention is shown in FIG. 6 of the accompanyingdrawings. Further details of this system are disclosed in WO2013/118031of the Applicant. The apparatus performs local or spot backwashing ofthe water intake system by filtering some of the intake water 12 using alayer of filter media (e.g. sand filter 18 using sand). The apparatus ismoved above the surface of the filter media and is inserted at differentparts of it consecutively, to eventually backwash the whole volume ofthe filter media.

The apparatus comprises an enclosure 50 having a closed upper end thatis supported on a bridge 52 or other support structure, such as a tower,a crane or a floating platform. The enclosure is sunk into the filtermedia 18 and encloses a portion of it. The enclosure is supported on thedraining structure 20 at the base of the filter media. Sinking theenclosure is carried out by lowering the air pressure in its upper part.

Once sunk into the filter media, the lowered air pressure in the upperpart of the enclosure is used to initiate suction in the enclosure thatexpands the enclosed portion of filter media and removes water withsludge from it. The water is supplied into the enclosure from filteredwater entering the enclosure from the surrounding filter media outsidethe enclosure, as the filtration continues globally in the watertreatment unit (through filter media outside the enclosure in thefiltering system). The enclosure allows a local rise in the water levelthat does not produce a large head when viewed on the scale of the wholesystem, and hence does not require massive structural adaptations.Indeed, using local backwashing allows the water level above the filtermedia to be low, simplifying the construction of the whole system.

After water with sludge is removed, the enclosed portion of filter mediais allowed to settle, and the enclosure is raised out of the filtermedia by increasing the air pressure in its upper part. Upon thisincrease, the enclosure floats and is moved to another area of thefilter.

As a result, several benefits are achieved. The backwashing process usesa much smaller quantity of water, avoiding the use of large externalreservoirs of both backwash water and sludge holding wastewater, andallows the continued operation of the filtering system during the localbackwashing. Intake of water from the source is made possible withoutdamage to the organisms living in the source, as the filtering system isgentle (no powerful suction but gentle flow through the filter media),and yet in an efficient manner that prevents clogging. The presence of amoving skirt at the base of the enclosure also prevents marine life upto a certain size from entering the enclosure, thereby further reducingharm to aquatic life.

The supporting structure 52 is configured to position enclosure 50 at aspecified spot on the surface and a pneumatic system 60 is in fluidcommunication with an upper part of the enclosure 50 and configured todetermine an air pressure in the upper part. A pipe system connects theupper part of enclosure 50 with pneumatic system 60 and with a dischargestructure 54 for receiving wastewater with sludge generated in the localbackwashing process. A control unit (not shown) is connected tosupporting structure 52 and pneumatic system 16 and is configured toconduct local backwashing of consecutive partial volumes of filter media18.

The control system conducts local backwashing of consecutive partialvolumes of filter media 18 by the following stages. These stages arealso illustrated in FIG. 7, being a schematic flowchart illustratingmethod 200 of supplying water treatment plant with water and backwashingof filtering system.

First, enclosure 50 is positioned at a specified spot on the surfacethat corresponds to the partial volume of filter media, i.e. over thespot that is to be backwashed (stage 225). The positioning may becarried out by lifting enclosure above the surface and then lowering itinto the filter media, by dragging or rolling enclosure on the surface,or by any other positioning method. Then enclosure 50 is sunk intofilter media 18 (stage 230) until a skirt of the enclosure is supportedon drainage layer by reducing the air pressure in the upper part ofenclosure (stage 232) through pneumatic system 60 once open lower end ofenclosure is immersed in filter media to enclose the partial volume offilter media 18 within enclosure 50 (stage 234). At the beginning of thesinking process, lower end is in the filter media and partially filledwith water, at the end of the sinking process, lower end is filled witha local portion of the filtering media. To initiate sinking stage, it isfavorable that edge is within filter media, to prevent excessive waterflow that may interfere with the process.

Local backwashing of the partial volume of filter media 18 enclosed inenclosure 50 is then generated during continued operation of globalfiltering in the filtering system (through filter media outside theenclosure in the filtering system) (stage 240), by generating suctionthrough pneumatic system 60 (stage 242) that initiates a water flow fromupper part of the enclosure through pipe system to discharge structure54 (stage 250).

The water flow introduces into the enclosed partial volume of filtermedia filtered water from drainage layer that is filtered by the rest ofthe filter media, surrounding enclosure (stage 244) which expands theenclosed filter media and releases sludge therefrom (stage 246) to thewater flow that flows to discharge structure (stage 250). Water flow ismaintained by utilizing the height difference between the water level inenclosure 50 (that may locally be higher than the water level in filter)(stage 252). An edge of open lower end of enclosure 50 may be shaped toprevent filter media flow into enclosed partial volume. As edge issupported on an upper layer of drainage layer, good contact may beachieved e.g. by widening the edge. Furthermore, the form of edge may bedesigned to transmit forces (weight and contacting impact) fromenclosure to upper layer in a non damaging manner. Local backwashing iscarried out by water from drainage layer moving into the enclosed filtermedia, expanding it and removing sludge from the filter media particles.Hence, filtered water that is filtered during the local backwashing byother parts of the filter media outside the enclosure, is used forbackwashing the enclosed filter media, without need for an externalwater source.

Expanded filter media fills most of the volume of enclosure 50, and isagitated due to the suction, water flow into the enclosure and waterflow out of the enclosure. The agitation separates the sludge particlesgravitationally from the filter media, as sludge particles float in thewater and filter media sinks. The portion of backwashed filter media maybe allowed to settle before enclosure is removed, in order to preventhorizontal mixing of filter media 18 which may decrease the efficiencyof the local backwashing.

Finally, enclosure 50 is raised above the surface of filter media 18(stage 260) to release the backwashed enclosed volume of filter media,by injecting air and increasing air pressure in the upper part ofenclosure (stage 262) through the pneumatic system to float enclosure 50above filter media 18 (stage 264). Settled backwashed filter mediastarts filtering water at high efficiency once enclosure 50 is removed.

Integrated intake and pretreatment unit 10 of the present inventionprevents damage to the natural fauna in the body of water from wherewater is taken. As the intake is carried out through the filter media,there are no open pipes or intake screens that damage organisms such asfish, and no open fast flowing water bodies that may remove and killorganisms. Furthermore, the shallow waters above the filter media 18 area breeding ground for algae promoting larvae growth. These waters areprotected by screens to prevent access by larger predatory fish therebyfurther serving to enhance larvae growth. This also promotes growth ofsmall fishes that are able to leave the shallow waters by the rotatingone-way gate. A small amount of larva may be taken up by the localbackwashing apparatus but small fishes are prevented from entering theunit due to the presence of a moving skirt. Thus, the method and systemof the present invention serves to greatly enhance marine life at anintake and pretreatment unit.

In the above description, an embodiment is an example or implementationof the invention. The various appearances of “one embodiment”, “anembodiment” or “some embodiments” do not necessarily all refer to thesame embodiments.

Although various features of the invention may be described in thecontext of a single embodiment, the features may also be providedseparately or in any suitable combination. Conversely, although theinvention may be described herein in the context of separate embodimentsfor clarity, the invention may also be implemented in a singleembodiment.

Embodiments of the invention may include features from differentembodiments disclosed above, and embodiments may incorporate elementsfrom other embodiments disclosed above. The disclosure of elements ofthe invention in the context of a specific embodiment is not to be takenas limiting their used in the specific embodiment alone.

Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention can be carriedout or practiced in various ways and that the invention can beimplemented in embodiments other than the ones outlined in thedescription above.

The invention is not limited to those diagrams or to the correspondingdescriptions. For example, flow need not move through each illustratedbox or state, or in exactly the same order as illustrated and described.

Meanings of technical and scientific terms used herein are to becommonly understood as by one of ordinary skill in the art to which theinvention belongs, unless otherwise defined.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited numberof embodiments, these should not be construed as limitations on thescope of the invention, but rather as exemplifications of some of thepreferred embodiments. Other possible variations, modifications andapplications are also within the scope of the invention, as limited bythe claims.

We claim:
 1. A method for water intake and pretreatment comprising:delivering water from a natural body of water to a reservoir having agranular filter media bed; preventing entry of organisms above apredetermined size from entering the reservoir; allowing organisms belowthe predetermined size which have entered the reservoir, to exit thereservoir; filtering the water delivered to the reservoir by passing itthrough the granular filter media bed, thereby producing filtered water;and removing the filtered water from the reservoir.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: local backwashing of partial volumes of thegranular filter media bed.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:rinsing the reservoir.